Botta Bang, Botta Boom
by Kat Lee formerly Pirate Turner
Summary: An old leather jacket and a friend lead Jake and Lorena back to each other years after their separation, and after the band has broken apart.  Het.
1. Chapter 1

Title: "Botta Bang, Botta Boom"  
>Author: Pirate Turner<br>Dedicated To: My beloved, always inspirational husband, Jack, my soul mate, my love, my light, my life, my everything - I love you, my darling!  
>Rating: PG-13<br>Summary: An old leather jacket and a friend lead Jake and Lorena back to each other years after their separation, and after the band has broken apart.  
>Warnings: Het, Original Character, Established Pairing<br>Word Count: 11,186  
>Dates Written: 27 February - 18 March, 2012<br>Disclaimer: Jake, Lorena, all other recognizable characters mentioned within, and California Dreams are ﾩ & TM their rightful owners, none of whom are the author, and are used without permission. Kyle, all non-recognizable characters, and everything else is ﾩ & TM the author. The author makes absolutely no profit off of this work of fan fiction, and no copyright infringement is intended.

**Chapter One**

She bounced to her door when the bell rang, and when she peeked out and saw the UPS driver waiting for her, Lorena DaCosta squealed like she had not done since she had been a teenager. Grinning from ear to ear, she flung open the door and grabbed her package. "Hum, I need a signature," the driver murmured seconds before Lorena could slam the door back shut in his face.

"Yeah, yeah," Lorena muttered. She refused to relinquish her package even as she signed off for him.

"You must have been waiting for this for some time," the driver remarked.

She beamed, her eyes glistening with her excitement. "It's like Christmas in July!"

"California Dreams merchandise, huh?"

"Yeah!" She eyed him suspiciously. Did he not have any good taste despite his blonde hair and, she supposed, good looks? If he wasn't a Dreams fan, she'd send him off of her property pronto!

"It's a shame that they broke up, and that the lead singer and that blonde guitarist called it splits."

She glared at him, her Latina fury instantly heating up. She spat out angry words in Spanish, and when he looked at her quizzically, she reminded herself that he lacked the intelligence of a maggot and reiterated herself, more calmly this time, and in English, "It's not a shame at all. They weren't meant to be together."

"Oh, yeah, I guess you're right."

"You guess?" she asked. "You guess? Let me tell you something, buster. Jake Sommers is - "

"Yeah, I know, the guy's probably gay."

Lorena's mouth open; her eyes nearly bugged out of her head. "It's okay," he tried to reassure her, scratching the back of his blonde head underneath his brown cap. "I get it. I'm not trying to bash your fangirling or anything."

"My fangirling?"

"Yeah, sure. We all need to be able to do a little fangirling in our lives."

"All of us?" She took a step closer to him, her anger beginning to flush her pretty face again. "You fangirl in the closet, so you think we all need to do a little fangirling?"

"Huh, sure." He stumbled unconsciously backwards as she approached, but she took two steps for every one he made until he fell off of her steps. "Look, lady!" he cried, holding up both of his hands. "I didn't mean anything by it! Most of us Hollywood types are gay, but if you want the man, and you think you can get him, go for it!"

A torrent of Spanish spilled furiously out of Lorena's lips. She cursed the man before her with every stupid analogy and every curse word which she could remember. She called him the backwards jackass that he was as he stood before her in shock. He started shaking his head and then turned to leave. "I'm not done with you yet!" she snapped in English.

"Lady, I'm done here. My job doesn't pay me enough to take this kind of harrassment. I'm out of here! Good luck with your imaginary courtship! The guy's never even going to see you!"

The next words out of her mouth stunned him. "Shows what you know! I dated Jake Sommers when we were in high school! He'd be my husband now if the Dreams hadn't left to go on tour!" He turned back around just as she slammed her door so hard that it echoed across her luscious, green lawn.

The UPS driver shook his head in shock, climbed back into his van, and took off. It was true what they said: The Hollywood types were not only mostly gay; they were also crazy. He took off his cap and raked his fingers through his blonde hair, glad, for a change, that he'd not yet made the acting cut. After all, if becoming an actor made a person nuts like that woman, he'd be happy never to set another foot back on stage again in his life.

* * *

><p>Inside her otherwise empty home, Lorena still whispered furiously to herself. "Hollywood types! Ha! That guy couldn't act if his life depended on it!" And yet he had possessed the muscular body, blonde hair, and blue eyes that would have once driven her wild. That had changed many years ago, however, she reflected, back in high school. Even longer than that, actually, she admitted, as she looked down at the handwriting on the package she still clutched. Back before she'd met Jake, the man who'd just left might have been able to catch her attention, but after Jake . . .<p>

Lorena sighed deeply. There was no after Jake. She had never stopped loving him, and although she'd dated a few guys, again, mostly back in high school in her vain attempts to show that she was over him when he'd gone back to that blasted Tiffani, not a single one of them had actually attracted her. She'd come to realize that she could have dated Brad Pitt and still been unhappy, and after that realization, she'd recoiled entirely from the dating pool and forced herself to be as content as she could with just following her beloved Jake's career.

Lorena's fingers idly etched the writing on her package as she wondered who had written her name on the box. It probably had not even been a member of the band, or Sly, but she couldn't help wondering if, had they known who won the auction, they would have reemmbered her. She knew she'd been gone from most of their minds for a long time now. They had invited her along when they'd first left town, but she had declined. She had been so miserable watching Jake and Tiffani together, and she'd not thought she could take any more of their happiness.

Tears came, unbidden, to Lorena's big, brown eyes as she remembered those days. It had taken almost everything she had not to break down so often when she had watched the Dreams together. She had come to be an outsider even in her own studio during their rehearsals. She couldn't have gone with them and maintained any form of sanity. Her depression would have claimed the better of her.

And yet . . . Yet there was not a day or nighit that went by that she did not remember and miss Jake. The love she felt for him was still as strong as it had ever been, and no power in the universe could quell or quiet it. She loved him, but he would never love her. Even after he'd broken up with Tiffani, he had not made any move to contact her. She'd gone to see him once in concert and had claimed a front row seat, but he had not even appeared to notice her. The papers, for a time, had been riddled with his various dates with young starlets, and though the Dreams had since disappeared from the news, Lorana was sure Jake was probably still seeing another young, pretty, little thing every night.

She glanced up into one of the many mirrors that hung in her home and touched her own long, brown hair. She was still pretty, she thought, forcing a small, sad smile at her reflection. Her looks had not faded over the years. They had left her no more than her love for Jake had disappeared, and yet . . . Yet they had not been enough to keep the man she loved, and now were not enough to draw his attention. Every startlet he'd shown up with in public had been another blonde, indicating that the man she loved was still drawn to that other girl, the girl he'd had before her and for whom he had eventually left her.

Tears spilled down Lorena's cheeks. She wiped them determinedly away and pushed her hair back from her face. Blinking through her tears, she returned her attention to the package she held. She might never again have Jake's love, but she would never stop loving him and would always possess her cherished memories of their time together. No one could take those times from her. No one could make her forget the feel of his arms around her or how sweet and wonderful his lips had tasted or how her body had sang underneath his touch.

She ripped into the package and carefully removed the leather jacket. She had an entire closet of jackets similar to this one. One of the few changes that she had made after the Dreams had left was that she had began to haunt second hand shops, looking for old jackets like the one her beloved Jake had worn. She had bought every one she could find, but still none of them could bring her any satisfction.

Lorena dropped the box to the floor and held her new, old jacket. She pressed her face close against its leather folds whose black shade had dimmed with time. Closing her eyes, she inhaled, and her nose was met instantly with a strong and masculine scent that, despite the distance of the years, had never left her memory. She murmured her pleasure and sniffed it again. It smelled of Jake, her man, her love, and the years began to peel away.

Lorena slipped the jacket on and relished the feel of its leather caressing her flesh. She kept her eyes closed, wrapped herself tightly in the jacket, and again inhaled its scent. The musky, masculine aroma of her beloved was so strong that, with her eyes shut, she could almost imagine Jake was with her again. As she gave herself up to her memories, the jacket's sleeves became his arms in her mind's eye, and she again felt him holding her.

She felt the wind against her face as they drove down the roads on his bike with no destination in mind, only the desire to be alone together with their young and supple bodies pressing close against each other. She felt his arms, so strong, protective, reassuring, and alluring, wrapped around her, holding her tight, keepin her safe, bringing her to new levels of passion far beyond anything she'd ever felt before as they rode, danced, and made love. Unconsciously, her eyes still closed tightly shut, Lorena sashayed from side to side, dancing in place as she held to the memories of the one man whom she would always love.

Yet, still, the pleasure of those memories and the beaming smile glowing on her beautiful face could not keep her heart's misery at bay. The Dreams' music filled her ears. Her body tingled as she felt Jake's lips nibbling her ears and neck, kissing her own lips, and traveling over places on her body that no other had ever been. She was lost in the past and quite glad to stay there, never again to see the misery of her present or her future which held no happiness as long as she could not have her beloved Jake.

She danced as she clung to her memories, holding her love's leather jacket tightly around her body, engulfing herself in his scent and lingering presence, and gladly becoming so lost in the memories of their shared, and, at that time, wonderful, past, that the present disappeared from around her. For a short, blissful time, at least, she forgot he'd ruined their lives by going back to Tiffani and abandoning her. She forgot he was supposed to be miles and miles away from her. His jacket caressing her and the memories filling her mind and heart made it as though he was back with her again, still loving her and never having left.

As she heard his sensual voice singing again just for her and murmuring sweet words of a love he promised would never stop or dim, she heard, too, the sound of his bike carrying them. What Lorena failed to realize was that the sounds of the motorcycle wasn't just in her head. There was another bike roaring not too far from her at all, and as it turned, uninvited, into her lane, it kept coming straight for her.

**To Be Continued . . . **


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

"Botta bing! Botta bang! Botta boom!" Sly exclaimed happily as he entered the garage without knocking. He shook his rear end and snapped his fingernails together in tune to the little song he'd been singing since he was a kid. He grinned widely at Jake, who looked up irritabily from his bike.

Jake wiped his hands off on an oil rag and stood. The entire time, he kept his glare fixed on Sly and the two strumpets on his arms. The Dreams still had a few groupies left, and despite Sly's sliminess, those who could not get close to them gladly hung onto his every word. Some of the girls were so dirty themselves that Jake had often wondered if they truly overlooked Sly's sliminess simply because he was the only member of the Dreams who would still lower himself to their level or if they were perhaps pulled to him because he was as slimy as they.

Jake knew Sly had used the Dreams' reputation to make himself several orgy parties in the past, but as far as he knew, the Winkle dirtbag was the only one of their band to actually attend those parties. Jake knew Tiffani hadn't gone to them while they'd been together; what, or who, she did afterwards was really any one's guess. Although Mark would have easily fallen into Sly's trap when he had first come into the band, he now realized that he could choose his ladies and didn't have to just settle for the next pretty face and easy pair of legs. Tony and Sam had married a few years ago, and Jake knew that Tony looked nowhere else for pleasure but at his beloved Sam.

He sighed deeply. He envied his friends for their love. They had been happy together ever since high school, and despite the press and all that had happened to pull the Dreams apart, Tony and Sam had stayed as close together as they had been then. His lips quirked into a grin as he remembered the way they had been back in school. Even then, there had been times that they had acted like an old, married couple, still full of passion for each other but so comfortable with one another that Sam would right Tony's tie or he'd carry her stuff without a second's thought.

He'd been that happy once, Jake recalled, but never with Tiffani. He'd thought he'd loved Tiffani until she'd actually left him for a surfer dude. He shifted his leather jacket, moving his arms as he had always been apt to do when suddenly made uncomfortable. No one had ever left Jake Sommers before, but she had. He knew now that he should have left her, but he'd stayed with her for years, even after coming to the realization that she was not the true Queen of his heart that he'd thought her to be, for fear of what would happen to the Dreams if they split up.

Keeping their friendship had been trying enough the first time they'd parted ways, but the band had not suffered because of their relationship. The press this time, however, had made certain to make them suffer. They had all gotten to the point to where they could not do anything, even enjoy a simple meal from a teenage hangout, like Sharky's had been; take a stroll down the beach; or ride his bike, without beinng hounded by the press. Having their pictures taken at embarrassing moments and microphones thrust into their faces when they were already upset had at last taken its toll on them, but it wasn't just the reporters in person who had made their lives as celebrities so difficult to bear.

Reporters had the same moralities as Sly, which was none. Those who couldn't reach the Dreams in person made up the stories they thought would sell, and the dirtier the story, the more it flew off of the racks. It had been one such story that had caused his last fight with Tiffani. It had shown her kissing the man with whom she'd been surfing, and Jake had torn into her, furious that she would see some one behind his back. What he hadn't realized until it was too late was that Tiff hadn't actually even so much as dated the guy. She'd had feelings for him, but she'd kept them at bay and not acted on them until Jake had made an ass of himself.

He snorted at the memory. It was his fault, in a way, that she had left him, but it was those damn reporters who were really to blame. Regardless, that fight, his accusations, had ruined their friendship. Tiffani had left the band, and the band had crumpled without her. They could have tried to replace her, but none of them, save Winkle, had had the heart to do so. They had chosen to end the band instead, and now here he was, facing Sly, for the first time in months.

"Botta boom!" Sly hollered, and Jake winced as he was snapped back to the present and almost went for Sly's throat.

"What is it, Sly?" he snapped instead.

Sly shook his head at Jake. "You didn't hear a word I said, did you?"

"No," Jake admitted. "Why would I want to listen to a maggot like you, any way?"

Sly surveyed his friend, knowing he was upset and understanding the true reason why though he'd never dare to accuse Jake of the reality lest the biker slam his face into the nearest wall. He spread his arms wide. "Leave us," he commanded his chicks, and they flocked outside and, undoubtedly, back to his limo to wait for them.

"Jake, babe," Sly started again but stopped short and jumped backwards as Jake went for him.

"I told you never to call me that!" Jake snarled.

"Sorry! Sorry!" Sly squealed, throwing his hands up in the air to show how defenseless he was. "Look. I didn't mean to upset you, but I've got news I thought you'd want to hear."

"And you couldn't just call?"

"You didn't answer your phone."

Jake hushed. Sly had him there. He never answered his phone any more unless it was Tony or Mark. He didn't even spoken to Sam for far too often she mentioned the girls of his past, and as for Sly . . . Well, Sly had gone on to manage other bands, but the Dreams were still his favorite. The last time he'd spoken to Winkle, Sly had been trying to pull the Dreams back together and had three wayed him into a call with Tiffani before he even knew she was on the other line.

It wasn't that he blamed Tiffani, not really. The press were to blame for breaking them apart so soon, but it would have happened any way. Unlike Tony and Sam, they weren't meant to be together. Jake could never be the sappy romantic, surfer dude that Tiffani truly needed, and Tiff . . . Tiffani was a wonderful woman, but she wasn't the woman of Jake's dreams. She wasn't the one he loved.

"Get to the point, Winkle," Jake growled, wanting to silence the memories that Sly's presence brought, unbidden and seemingly almost unstoppable, to his mind.

"Okay." Sly nodded and punched a fist into the palm of his other hand. "It's like this, Jake." Then he started rattling off his explanation. "Remember that charity Sam talked us all into donating for a while back? We all donated an item. You let go of your leather jacket from high school."

"Yeah? What of it?"

"That leather jacket went for a million bucks."

Jake's mouth fell open. His dark eyes widened in surprise. "What?"

Sly grinned. He knew he had his full attention now! Jake waited, expecting to hear Sly hitting him up for more leather jackets to sell, but what Winkle said instead was quite possibly the last thing Jake had expected to hear. "That's not even the best part. The best part is who bought it." Sly grinned triumphantly up at Jake, his dark eyes shining with happy excitement. "Lorena DaCosta!"

"Lorena," Jake spoke her name in a hushed whisper. His hands fell to his sides; emotions crashed over his usually stony face. He hadn't heard her name, except from Sam, in years. He hadn't seen her since the last time she'd gone to one of their concerts. She'd sat in the front row that night, looking even more beautiful than he remembered, and it had taken every bit of his self control not to go down to that row, pick her up in his arms, tell her how sorry he was, and reclaim her mouth with his right there before the world.

He had left Lorena for Tiffani, and that had been the single, greatest mistake of his life. There hadn't been a day that had gone by since then that he hadn't regretted leaving Lorena, but he hadn't known how to get out of the mess in which he'd put himself. Lorena had seemed fine without him, and he hadn't wanted to break Tiffani's heart or risk breaking the band apart as had finally happened when he and Tiff had gone splitsville.

Lorena had paid a million dollars for his old leather jacket! No one paid that much money for a jacket! Okay, so money didn't matter much to Lorena. She'd always had bucket loads of it, but Lorena didn't wear leather or old clothes. She had always been the most fashionable person in all of Bayside, and though he hadn't seen in her years, he was quite sure she would not have changed that much.

"I have an address," Sly interjected into Jake's thoughts.

He blinked owlishly at him. "What?"

"I have an address," Sly repeated with uncharacteristic patience. He shrugged and gave a little grin. "If you want it, that is, of course." He waved a paper in front of Jake's face.

Jake dropped his oil rag and grabbed the paper, snapping, "Give me that." He glanced at the address, shoved it into his jacket pocket, and raced back for his bike. He tore immediately out of his garage, jumping the curb to avoid hitting Sly's limousine and leaving his former manager yelling behind him. "YOU'RE WELCOME!"

Left alone in the garage, Sly grinned. He knew Jake hadn't been the same since he'd left Lorena, and though he and Tiffani had tried to make a go of things, neither was right for the other. Their hearts were just too different. Tiffani had found what she needed; she was marrying him this weekend in a surfer's ceremony. Sly's heart stirred as he remembered when he had gone through that same ceremony with the pretty, little blonde. She was definitely a heartbreaker, but she couldn't break hearts that had never belonged to her. Jake's heart belonged to some one else, and Sly would see his old friend happy yet.

"Sly?" one of his many girls called, sticking her head around the corner of Jake's garage. She pouted seductively at him. "We're getting lonely," she said.

Sly grinned. "Well, we can't have that now, can we?" he asked. He opened his arms wide. "Come to Uncle Sly." He grasped her as she flew into his arms, reveling in the feel of the half naked girl who had once been a cheerleader who wouldn't have looked twice at him in high school. As he buried his mouth in her neck and his fingers in her long hair, he again thought of his friends. He was going to see them happy, he thought, grinning widely, and when they were happy again, he'd be able to pull the band back together! "Botta bing! Botta bang! Botta boom!"

His groupie giggled, and more of them rushed to join their coupling. "Botta boom me!" she cried happily.

"Oh, yeah," Sly answered, "you better believe I will!" He proceeded to do just that, though not without a hope that Jake still possessed enough sense to botta boom Lorena just right for he knew what they needed was definitely each other, and though his ultimate plan was to pull the band back together and make a bunch of money off of them once more, he truly did want his old friends to be happy again.

**To Be Continued . . . **


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

The knock on her door startled her out of her memories, and yet, as Lorena looked up, she found her past coming to collide with her again. The man who had haunted her every dream since high school stood on the opposite side of her door, his helmet dangling from one hand and a despairing, pleading look in his handsome eyes. Those eyes had always sent shivers down Lorena's back, and now was no different even as her mind and heart whirled. "Jake!" she exclaimed in surprise.

"Lorena." Was it her imagination, or did his voice shake as he breathed her name? What was he doing here? How had he found her? Why had he bothered to look her up? She knew, from reading about the many dates he'd had after Tiffani and from the harsh experience of losing him to the blonde surfer in the beginning, that Jake didn't care for her as she did him, so why had he come to her after all this time?

Her heart stilled in dread. Something must have happened to Sam! Even though she hadn't seen her in person in years now, except during the holidays, the two of them still remained as close as any rich sisters could. "Is Sam - ?" she started to blurt out, but Jake held up his empty hand to stop her.

"She's fine," he assured her.

They couldn't break their eyes away from one another's gaze, and yet Lorena still couldn't find the answers she needed in his eyes. There had been a time, she remembered, when the very stars had seemed to fill Jake's sensual eyes, and during those years, they had been able to talk to each other just by gazing into their eyes. They had been able to have an entire conversation and say things they didn't have the courage at the time to speak aloud simply by looking into one another's eyes.

"Then why . . . ?" she finally managed to speak.

He took a deep breath; his fingers curled more tightly around his helmet. His heart had been thundering in his ears ever since Sly had told him that Lorena had bought his jacket, and now its booming beat was almost deafening to his ears. He loved her! He had always loved this amazing, beautiful girl before him! Only she was no longer a girl. She was a woman who was even more beautiful now than he remembered her being when he'd had the honor of dating her.

He remembered, yet again, that like a fool, he'd broken her heart. She couldn't still have feelings for him after all this time. He had destroyed everything they'd once shared for a girl whom he had eventually learned he could no more love than he could love a broken down truck. His heart had always belonged to Lorena. It had just taken him too long to realize that he could no more stop loving her than he could stop the day from becoming night or the world from spinning on its axis.

But she couldn't love him, he remembered. She might even hate him now, although the startled and almost joyful and hopeful look on her face hinted otherwise. Even if she still liked him, she couldn't love him. He'd broken her heart. So what did he tell her? How could he tell a woman who could never love him again that he still loved her? And yet, if he couldn't say the words, what in the Hell had he come all this way for?

"Jake?" Lorena pressed, coming to her screen door. Her hand touched its handle, but she didn't yet push it open. "What is it?" she asked him, her eyes searching his for an answer. She trembled inside with a feeling stronger than and unlike anything else she'd felt since the last time she'd seen him. "What did you come to me for?"

"You bought my jacket," he said at last, managing to force his lips to curve up into a quirky smile.

She nodded. "I did." Then she shrugged. "It was for a good cause," she added, trying to throw off any suspicion he might have that she still possessed feelings for him which she knew he did not return. She wouldn't let him know how much she still loved him or how badly she was shaking inside by just seeing him again now after all these years.

He touched her door; his fingers curved against the clear glass. Her face was on just the opposite side of that door; yet, he found that he wasn't sure he was brave enough to open it. "Is that the only reason why?"

She tossed her head, her long, brown hair shimmering down her back. Lorena had always possessed the best hair of any girl he'd ever known, and though Jake had dated super models, actresses, and singers, he still found that her locks were the loveliest of them all. "Why else would I buy an old, dusty, leather jacket?" she asked, her nose crinkling in the cutest facial expression he'd ever seen.

"I don't know," he said, pressing his palm against the door. "I was hoping you'd tell me. The Lorena I know wouldn't pay a million dollars for a charity."

"Maybe I've changed."

"Maybe." He inclined his head in a nod. "We all have in some way or another, but we've stayed the same in other ways too."

"How?" she quiered aloud.

Open the door, he wanted to tell her, and I'll show you how. For one tantalizing moment, he imagined her letting him into her home, sweeping her back into his arms, and kissing her sweet, beautiful lips until they were both left completely senseless. Yet it couldn't be that easy. If he kissed her, she'd slap him. She wouldn't open her heart to him again; he'd lost that right back in high school. He shook himself free of the delightful daydream and, still gazing into her eyes, asked, "Are you going to let me in?"

She ran her fingers and thumb over the handle, considering his request. Then, softly, she admitted, "I'm not sure I should." She stood tall underneath his gaze. "It's been years, Jake."

"I know," he said. "It's been way too long." And then, gathering every bit of his courage to himself, he continued, "I understand if you don't want me to come in, Lorena. We weren't exactly the best of friends when we left."

"You left," she interjected, her Spanish accent growing stronger and her voice huskier with the emotions she fought to keep at bay. "I stayed here."

He nodded. "I left," he admitted, his fingers tracing her pane. Damn it, Jake! he growled at himself. You've waited all these years to see her again! She has to have some interest in you; she wouldn't have bought your jacket otherwise! Just tell her! If she doesn't love you, at least, then, you'll know, and you can leave and never see her again!

The thought of never seeing his beautiful, beloved Lorena ever again, however, tore at his heart and threatened to rip his very soul into pieces. They might never again be as they were, all thanks to him and his stupidity, but at least he could see her and be as close to her as a friend. Yet his lips were already moving, and an admission came tumbling out before he could stop it again, "I've regretted it ever since."

She looked at him, clearly puzzled. Her eyes shone with the tears she was barely keeping down as she searched his dark, enchanting orbs for the truth. "You regret leaving town and giving the Dreams their shot at being famous?" Her other hand came to rest on the window pane; only the glass remained between them now.

"No," he spoke breathlessly, and this time, she knew she wasn't imagining it. His voice really was shaking. "I regret leaving you."

"Me?" she asked, clearly surprised.

"Yes, Lorena, you!" he exclaimed heatedly, unable to hold the truth back any longer. His entire body was trembling both from the memory of how her body had felt in his arms and how desperately he burned to hold her again, to love her once more with his mouth, hands, and body as he'd always done with his heart. "Damn it, I regret leaving you!" Hot tears spilled into both their eyes. "I was young! I was stupid! I went for the wrong girl, and I've never stopped regretting it ever since! I love you, Lorena DaCosta!"

He almost ripped her door off of its hinges as he slung it open. She was crying. They both were, he realized, but for only the second time in his entire life, Jake Sommers didn't let the fear of appearing weak stop him. "I always have!" He picked up the girl he loved in his arms and kissed her. Lorena gave a soft cry of pleasure, and he slid his tongue deeply into her mouth. His tongue curled around hers, sparking a duel whose passion and heat was far stronger and more wonderful than anything either of them had felt since the last time they had been together.

Their arms wrapped around each other's bodies. Jake's fingers thrilled as they buried into Lorena's long, silky hair. Her fingers clasped his jacket and instinctively massaged his shoulders underneath the leather. She kissed him hotter, harder, and deeper, and he returned her kiss with equal and growing passion, determined to show her, at long last, just how desperately he truly had missed her and how much he would always love her and only her forever more!

They could have kissed like that forever, if only Lorena's mind had not come up with objections. She had read the papers. She knew he had dated other girls after staying wtih Tiffani for years. If he'd really had any interest in them, really desired Tiff enough to stay with her for so long, how could he say now that he had always regretted leaving her and never stopped loving her and be telling the truth? She forced herself to stop kissing him and recoil. Jake didn't let her down, however, and she didn't try to make him. She loved being in his arms almost as much as she loved him himself.

She cupped his handsome face in her hands and wiped the tears from his eyes and cheeks. He was telling the truth. He had to be! He wouldn't be crying, otherwise. Plus, she had known, when they were dating, how to tell if he was telling her the truth, and she was quite certain that that ability and his tells of rather or not he was lying had not changed. "I love you!" she admitted, her voice shaking. "You hurt me worse than anybody else ever has!" She snorted and rolled her eyes at herself. "Okay, so you're the only guy who's ever been able to hurt Lorena DaCosta!"

She gazed back up into his eyes. Her thumbs drew softly against his cheeks, but otherwise, her hands laid still upon his handsome face. "Jake, I'm not going to say that this isn't a dream come true when it is. But I have to know. Is this real? Are you telling me the truth? If you love me, why did it take you so long to come back to me? Why did you stay with Tiffani for so long, and what about all those other girls?"

He took a deep breath and set her on her feet. Though she stood on her own power again, he still kept his hands on her; he needed to feel her right now as much as he needed to breathe. He had known these questions would come if he ever found the bravery to be able to tell her truth, and though he'd dreaded each and every one of them, he knew she had the right to know. His hands roamed slowly up her body; she didn't push him to give her the answers she needed for she could feel him trembling against her. His touch was almost reverent as he caressed her face. This time, he wiped her tears away, and then he began.

"I stayed with Tiffani so long for the band. As for the other girls . . . " He gave her a half-hearted grin and shook his head. "I honestly don't even remember their names. They were all girls Sly hooked me up with."

"_Sly_ hooked _you_ up?" Lorena repeated in disbelief.

Jake snorted. "Yeah. I know. Hard to believe. I didn't need his help, not really, except that I didn't really want to date. At first, I just wanted some one to throw back at Tiffani for getting close with her new boyfriend behind my back, and then, later, having some one on my arm meant that I wouldn't spend the entire night being hit on."

Lorena nodded slowly and understandingly. She had dated after Jake, and she had dated boys for the same reasons to which he was now confessing. "But why stay with her so long, Jake," she queried, once more caressing his handsome face with her still slightly shaking hands, "if you didn't love her? I get that you stayed with her for the band after you left, when you were in the limelight, but what about before? What about while we were still in school, or did you think you loved her then?"

He leaned his face into her touch. He had had girls throwing themselves at him his entire life, but no one had ever done anything as seductive for him as Lorena was doing now by simply stroking his face. "No," he answered her honestly, "but you were dating other guys, remember? I'd broken your heart, Lorena. I didn't have the right to try to win it back, and I was scared then that if I broke up with Tiffani, it would ruin our friendships and the band."

She granted him another slow nod of understanding. "I get it," she answered truthfully. "I know it was so hard when we broke up to keep letting you guys practice here, but I didn't want anything bad to happen to the band." She smiled sadly. "And, at least, it meant I got to see you even if you were flirting with Tiffani."

"The greatest mistake of my life," he vowed. Then he dropped down to one knee before her.

"Jake," Lorena demanded, looking at him in shock, "what are you doing?"

"I'm not asking you to marry me," he reassured her. "I don't have that right, although I don't really have the right to ask you what I'm about to either." He reached up, took both of her hands in his, kissed them, and then held them to his heart. "Lorena, I have regretted breaking up with you ever since the day I did. If there was one thing in my life that I could go back and change, I'd go back to that day, tell Tiffani to get lost, and tell you how much I'll always love you. But I can't go back! No matter how much I want to, I can't change what I've done, the mistakes I've made."

"That doesn't make my regret or my wanting to change them any less, however. You are the most wonderful thing that's ever happened to me! You've inspired almost every love song I've written since I met you! There is nothing I wouldn't do to be with you again!"

His mouth was open to say more, but Lorena cut him off. "Jake Sommers," she demanded, freeing a hand and placing it on his lips, "I love you! Now shut up, get up off of your knees, and kiss me!" He did just that, springing up to his booted feet, wrapping his arms tightly around the girl of his dreams, and kissing her like there was no tomorrow although, for the first time in many years, the future truly did look beautiful and bright now that he knew she loved him too!

He picked her up, and she went willingly, her feet lifting into the air. Their hands were everywhere on each other bodies' at once as they strove to make up for lost time. Their tongues danced with each other's, swirling and twisting against each other's heated lengths, and they kissed on throughout all the day and night, making up for that lost time and showing each other, rather than just telling, how deeply sorry they were for not making up sooner, how terribly they'd missed one another, and how deeply and passionately they would always love one another alone forever more!

**To Be Continued . . . **


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

Days passed by filled with sweet loving as both Jake and Lorena strove to make the most of every moment together and cherish each other with all the passion they possessed and all the love that had been waiting to be celebrated over the years they'd been apart. They spent every moment during that time together, Jake even allowing Lorena to drag him shopping and she going with him into his garage when he had to work on his bike and not even complaining over a splash of oil ruining her new outfit. They were all smiles until the day of Tiffani's wedding arrived.

Lorena tried to pretend that she wasn't aware of how Jake was fidgeting as she fixed his tie, but she knew he was nervous and couldn't help wondering why. If Tiffani truly meant nothing more to him than a friend, why should he be concerned about seeing her get married to another guy? "Jake," she said, finishing his knot with her fingers still at his throat and gazing questioningly into his beautiful eyes, "what's wrong?"

"I just . . . " He took the tie from her and slipped the knot down a few notches. "I just don't know how this is going to work out. Are you sure you want to go?"

"Jake, Tiffani sent us both invitations. I'm not ditching her. She's still a friend, and she wants us to be there for her." Her lovely, brown eyes narrowed in suspicion. "If you don't care that she's getting married, why are you so worried about this?"

He gave a hefty sigh; his tuxedo-clad shoulders slumped. Jake always had lookd undeniably hot, but Lorena found that, these days, he filled out a tuxedo even better than he did his leather jacket. Her entire body tingled as she spread her her hands out over his arms in an effort to soothe his tense body. He didn't still love Tiffani. She knew that for a fact, but he was still worried about this whole wedding thing. She couldn't figure out why it was bothering him so much but knew that he was stressing majorly over it. "You can tell me," she urged quietly.

"The press is going to be there," he finally blurted out.

"So?"

"Lorena, you've never seen reporters like these. They're like a pack of hungry dogs with one bone, and you're it."

She blinked up at him. "I know I'm beautiful," she said, a smile chasing over her pretty features, "but it's Tiffani's big day. Why would they want me?"

"I'm the lead guitarist of the band, or I was, any way, before we broke up. The press have still been hounding me ever since, and they got even worse when I started dating other girls, hoping that they would get them to leave me alone and bother Tiffani more." He made a face. "I know that doesn't sound fair, but I was desperate for a break. You don't know what it's like," he told her, "to not even be able to go out for a burger without having your every move tracked by the press!"

She'd always thought that being watched by fans would be a good thing, but seeing the worry and despair etching in his sensual eyes now and the fret marring his handsome face, for the first time, Lorena considered what it must really be like to not be able to go anywhere without being followed. Both your good and bad moments were flashed across the entire world. She knew that, over the years since they'd last been together, there had been several sad moments in her life that she would not have wanted any one to see, and she realized that her beloved Jake must also have had some of those very same moments.

She cupped his face and caressed his flesh. His skin had once been hardened by the hours spent riding his bike down the pavement, but his skin was much softer now, almost pampered. Lorena stopped the grin that threatened to burst out on her face as she imagined her love being forced to don makeup for his music videos and concerts. "That was then," she started to tell him, but he broke her off.

Shaking his head, Jake remarked, "But they'll still be there, as bad as they ever were or worse! Tiffani's getting married! The world thinks I loved her! They're going to want to hear that my heart's breaking!"

"So?" Lorena asked. Then she did grin as she leaned closer and took his handsome face in both of her hands. "We'll show them that your heart's not only not broken but that it's whole, happy, and better than ever!" She pressed her lips to his in a kiss so hot and steamy that its passion dazzled them both. She leaned closer in to him, her foot unconsciously rising.

Jake wrapped his arms around her and deepened their kiss. His tongue slid pass her hot lips and danced with hers. Their hands caressed each other lovingly, and Jake wanted nothing more than to stay there with her in his garage forever more. He never wanted to leave their home or Lorena ever again. He would be perfectly content to stay right here forever and never see another fan or reporter again for as long as he lived.

But she was right. Tiffani had sent them both invitations, asking them to come and signing the cards with her name in a heart as she hadn't done, in her own personal writing, since high school. Jake knew all of her letters back to her fans were signed with hearts, but they were printed off of computers. Tiffani had grown as sick of the press as he had and had stopped signing her name that way unless she was signing autographs, and only then she had done so because she knew that that was what her fans expected.

Jake's phone rang, startling both Lorena and himself. He stroked her long, silky hair as he pulled slowly away from her, then looked at his phone. He grimaced as he saw the name flashing across its panel. "Sly, you'd better have a damn good reason for this," he growled into the phone.

"Oh, I do," Sly answered quickly. Jake could hear his slimy grin exuding throughout the sound of his jovial voice. "You bet your leather jacket I do!"

Jake smiled at Lorena, his dark eyes twinkling. "My leather jacket already belongs to somebody else," he told him. "It's not up for betting."

"I know that too!" Sly replied. "It took you two lovebirds long enough to get it back together! You just needed ol' uncle Sly to give you a push in the right direction!"

Surprise flashed over Jake. Sly had known that he and Lorena would get back together? For just a moment, he felt as though he'd been tricked, but then he reminded himself that Sly couldn't have known that Lorena was going to buy his jacket. She had bought it, but she had bought it only because she had missed him so much that she'd wanted a piece of him to which to cling. Sly had only given him the information that she had bought it, but then again, all of his friends had to have known what he would do upon hearing that Lorena had spent a million dollars for his old, leather jacket.

Jake beamed at Lorena. If Sly had had a hand in reuniting them, he supposed he owed him a debt of thanks, but Winkle had never done anything without expecting some kind of monetary award to be involved. "Spit it out, Winkle," Jake demanded, pulling Lorena back into his arms and hugging her. He almost didn't hear Sly's next words as his heart shot out of his throat at Lorena's gentle kiss upon his neck. Instant fire poured throughout every inch of his heart, soul, and body.

"Meet us at the beach," Sly was telling Jake. Jake had no idea what he had said at first. He only heard his last sentence.

"The beach? Why?" he asked puzzedly.

Lorena paused in nibbling his neck and looked thoughtfully up at him.

"Just come. You'll see why when you get here." Sly hung up the phone, leaving Jake and Lorena to gaze once more into each other's eyes. Jake slowly put his own phone up, then gathered Lorena closer to him. He shrugged. "The beach it is, but first, you little minx, I owe you something." He picked her up, sat her on top of his bike, and started to make sweet love to her right then and there.

**To Be Continued . . . **


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

Jake road right up onto the shore with Lorena pressed into his back. She had forgotten how much fun it was to ride with a biker up until a few days ago. She enjoyed the feel of the wind raking through her long hair and pressing her in against her lover but even more so, still, she enjoyed the feel of holding her beloved Jake in her arms. Jake came to an abrupt stop right before Sly, who yelped as his spinning wheels threw sand on him. "What's the meaning of this, Sly? You'd better not make us late for Tiffani's wedding!"

"Hum, Jake," Lorena started quietly as she noticed the set up on this stretch of the beach.

Several white tents had been erected. About twenty chairs surrounded the front of the largest tent. She spotted a piano and a drum set also near that large tent. Her brow furrowed, and she looked questioningly at Sly. "I think, for a change, the weasel may actually have a good reason for bothering us."

"You bet he does!" Sly exclaimed before realizing exactly what Lorena had said. "Hey! We haven't seen each other in years, and that's the way you greet me?"

She wrinkled her nose at him. "A ferret doesn't change the color of his fur."

Sly rolled his eyes in exasperation. He was about to speak again when Tiffani came rushing up to him. "Sly!" she squealed and then, much to both Jake and Lorena's surprise, threw her arms around him and hugged him tightly. "This is the best! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you so much!"

Sly returned her hug, then, still clasping her thin shoulders in his hands, took a good look at Tiffani. She was beautiful, and the sight of her threatened to form a lump in his throat. He still remembered when she had been his lady love and they had almost been joined together in a special surfing ceremony. He realized now, gazing at her joyful face and seeing her wearing her white, wedding gown, that a part of him still cared more deeply for her than just mere friendship. Beaming, he told her, "Just consider it my wedding gift to you. I know you guys didn't want the press hogging your special moment."

"Yeah, but this is amazing! I still can't believe you put all of this together! The tents, the floral arrangements, the music - "

"Tiffany," Sly interrupted, still smiling and his dark eyes shimmering in delight, "you can thank me by going to hide until the ceremony starts. You know it's bad luck for the groom to see the bride before the wedding, and Kyle's not too far away."

Jake and Lorena watched as Tiffani stood up on her tip toes and looked through the gathered people. She spied the back of a person with long, blonde hair and quickly scooted back down behind Sly. "You're right," she told him, still grinning from ear to ear, "but I've got another way of thanking you that I think you'll appreciate way more." She glanced in another direction, and her smile grew almost mischievous as she saw her father coming. "Daddy'll bring it to you."

Finally, she looked at Jake, who was dismounting after Lorena had already climbed off of the back of his bike. "Hi, Jake. I'm, hum," she blushed, "I'm glad you could make it." Then she saw Lorena.

Lorena smiled nervously, unsure of how this reunion would go. After all, they had both wanted Jake at one time, and Tiffani was the woman who had taken her beloved away from her. Yet she was also the same one who had broken up with Jake and was now getting married to another guy. "Lorena," Tiffani bubbled in surprise, "you came! And with Jake!" Her pretty, blue eyes darted in between the two. "Are you guys back together?"

"Si," Lorena was quick to inform her. She stepped into place beside her man and hugged him possessively. She was shocked when Tiffani's smile grew even brighter.

"Great!" the blonde exclaimed joyously. "I'm so happy for you guys!" she enthused. "Jake and I tried to make it work, but I knew he wasn't happy with me! He missed you! I'm so glad you're back together!" She shrugged and glanced back toward her fiance before returning her attention to them. "I can't wait to catch up and hear all about it, but I've got to run before Kyle sees me! I'll see you guys after the ceremony, okay?"

"Okay," Lorena started to agree, but Tiff didn't even pause long enough to hear her answer as she ran off. Lorena watched the cheery blonde, saw Sam and Jenny catch up to her, and then looked back to Sly as she heard him suddenly and loudly catch his breath. "Sly, what's . . . ?" she started to ask but paused as Jake squeezed her hand.

"I think we should leave those two alone," he murmured, and Lorena smiled as she saw why Sly had suddenly been taken by surprise. He was staring at the girl on Tiffani's father's arm, and Lorena recognized the girl as easily as Jake had as being Sly's first real love.

"Allison," Sly breathed and stumbled toward her in the sand. Lorena let Jake pull her away. He turned back around after they had walked a few feet, wrapped his arms around her, and pulled her back against him in a gentle hug. They watched as Sly and Allison tenderly embraced.

Smiling, Lorena looked up at Jake with a question in her brown eyes. "Has he really changed that much?"

"Nah," Jake was quick to answer, "but Sly can do a few good things."

She nodded. "He certainly has today."

"And the other day," Jake admitted. "He was the one who told me you'd bought my jacket."

She beamed, turned around in his loving arms, and gazed up at him. "Then we do owe him a very big gracias." She felt Jake shiver in delight against her, as he always had when she softly spoke her native tongue without being angry. Ever since they'd been reunited, Lorena had relished every single moment spent with him and even the slightest touch, and the gratitude and delight that she felt during those times had yet to ebb. She knew they never would. She leaned up, took his handsome face in her loving hands, and sweetly kissed his delicious lips. She'd never stop being grateful for having him back in her life, loving her as much as she always had him, for as long as she lived, and she realized now, with no small amount of surprise, that that meant that she'd always be grateful to Sly, too.

They continued to kiss until music started to play. They broke apart and looked back toward the large tent, where their friends, Tiffani's family, and a few others they didn't recognize who had to belong to the groom's party were gathering. The haunting notes were being played on seashells by guys dressed in Bahamas shorts and girls wearing bikinis. Lorena figured they had to be the marrying couple's surfer friends, but the music was beautiful.

"Sly really outdid himself," she murmured, and Jake agreed as he led her to join the wedding party.

**To Be Concluded . . . **


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

A few hours later found Jake and Lorena cuddling on the shore and watching the tide begin to move closer. Tiffani and her new husband were out surfing. Lorena had, at first, rolled her eyes when Kyle had remarked on how groovy the waves were and Tiffani had stripped out of her wedding gown to reveal a white bikini. The two had been out on the waves ever since, and although Lorena still found it somewhat dorky to spend the afternoon after one's wedding surfing, she was glad, in a way, that Tiffani had not changed and realized that the two were definitely intended for each other.

Her fingers entwined around Jake's. She sighed happily as she leaned closer in to him. Kyle and Tiffani were not the only ones made for one another. She and Jake were definitely intended for each other, a fact Lorena had known since high school though it had taken him so much longer to accept it. Sam and Tony were also the perfect match. They had been together since flirting with each other online, way back when they had not known each other's Internet handles, and despite now being married, they had not changed in the least. They danced slowly along the shore.

Almost all the rest of the wedding party had gone. Some of Kyle's family were still riding waves, but even the Garrisons had left. Besides those few of Kyle's family, Kyle, the Dreams, and Lorena herself, only Sly and Allison still remained. Lorena's eyes sparkled as she watched the couple. Sly had not left Allison's side since her return, and even now he was sitting with an arm around her while his other hand gestured to the sky. Lorena figured he must have been describing the scenery to her and wondered if he, or any one, could describe the beauty of the sun setting over the ocean as they all celebrated their love.

"What are you thinking?" Jake whispered next to Lorena's ear, gently rubbing her arm.

She sighed happily, turned in to him, and kissed his neck. "How lucky we all are," she answered quietly.

He smiled. "That so?"

"Si. I mean, look at them, Jake. Tiff and Kyle, Sam and Tony, Sly and Allison . . . They're all as happy and as perfect for each other as we are."

He looked doubtful. "I dunno about that."

She looked back up at him. "Really?"

"Yeah." He lovingly stroked her long, brown hair. "I don't think any one could be as happy, or as perfect together, as we are." She beamed; he kissed her. Her lips slid open beneath his kiss, and their tongues slipped into one another's mouths. They rubbed against each other and moaned softly. Her hands cupped his face; his fingers buried in her hair. They lovingly caressed each other as their kiss deepened, growing steadily more passionate. She had never known the kind of love that Jake gave her, or the passion that he ignited in her soul, with any one else, and though their love was already amazing, and their passion all consuming, it only seemed to grow more and more with each passing day.

The radio had stopped playing, bringing Tony and Sam's dance to a halt. Sly had not risen to change the CD, and Tony looked at Sam with a grin. The Dreams had performed at the wedding dance, with Jenny taking Tiffani's singing role, and now the instruments sat untouched.

"What are you thinking, Tony?" Sam asked, her almond eyes twinkling with the happy suspicion of the plan she already knew her beloved husband was devising.

He shrugged his muscular shoulders, then pulled her along with him as he headed for the drum set. "I was just thinking it's a shame to let such fine musical instruments go to waste."

She smiled. "You'll play for me?"

"Always," he answered, grinning broadly, "and especially if you'll sing for me."

Her brilliant smile warmed his soul, as it always had since they'd first met. "You bet."

Tiffani and Kyle were just coming in from the final waves of the day when they heard Tony and Sam beginning to make music together. Tiff looked longingly toward the set up even as Mark joined in the singing and picked up a guitar. Not at all bothered by the fact that they were both still dripping wet, Kyle went up to his wife and hugged her. Taking her board from her, he told her, "Go."

"What?" she asked, looking at him in surprise. She grinned nervously. "It's our wedding, Kyle. I'm not going to - "

He stopped her before she could start babbling by cupping her face in his hands and kissing her lips firmly. "I'm going to be right here. Now go." He pushed her toward the stands.

Tiffani grinned and raced to take her place. Kyle watched her go, his whole face aglow with his happiness. He knew the Dreams would always be important to his love, and he'd never stand in the way of her happiness. He walked over to the growing band and laid their surfboards down together. Tiffani gazed lovingly at him as she started to sing.

Lorena was nuzzling Jake's neck when she felt him look up toward their friends. She pulled back, kissed him swiflty, and then told him as Kyle had Tiffani, "Go."

"What?" Jake questioned. He pulled her back into his arms. "Who said I wanted to go anywhere other than being right here with you?"

She pushed gently at him. "Go," she said, laughing and her eyes sparkling dazzlingly. "I've never stood in the way of you and the band; in fact, you know, I've always been your number one fan. Now go get back with them while you can. It may not last, but at least you'll have this evening to remember."

He grinned, grabbed her beautiful face, and kissed her passionately. Then he ran to join the others. Lorena trailed behind him, enjoying the view of him running from her almost as much as she liked to watch him coming toward her.

Jake picked up his old guitar. Some of the instruments were new, but this guitar was the very same one he'd played in the Dreams' last concert. It still felt so right in his skillful hands that it was as though he'd never laid it down. He grinned at his friends. They nodded in silent agreement, and Jake jumped into the chorus of the song.

Lorena started to dance before him just as she had when they were teenagers. Her eyes never left his as he and the others played. For one brief moment, it was as though they were back in Sharky's and had never left, but they had left. Time had changed. They had grown, and the Dreams, Lorena thought, beaming proudly, were better than ever. They were better than ever, and they would stay together, living in love and happiness, forever more.

It didn't matter that she was just a groupie to the world's eyes. What mattered was that she and Jake were in love, and that love would last forever after. It would never again be touched or otherwise dampened by the outside world. It would sparkle forever, grow better with each passing day, and even when the day came that Jake played his last, Lorena would still be there with him, and eternally thereafter, loving him forever more as he loved her for always and beyond.

Lorena looked to her left as a new set of soft, musical notes joined the song. This music was almost haunting and amongst the loveliest she'd ever heard. She was surprised to see Kyle making the music by blowing through a seashell. She grinned at him, understanding, at last, what Tiffani had seen in him, and then looked immediately back to her beloved Jake.

He was the only one for her and always would be. All the rest of the world dimmed in comparison, and soon, Lorena thought, her hands twisting around the flowers she held, they would all know it. Jake Sommers was her man, and though she'd gladly scream it at the whole world, she wouldn't have to to make their love known. Any one watching them with open eyes could see how infinitely much they loved each other, and soon, very soon, she'd be Mrs. Jake Sommers. Jake hadn't popped the question yet, but she knew he wasn't far from it and, besides, she'd caught the bouquet.

Their eyes met. Lorena blew a kiss at her beloved. Jake air kissed her back and kept playing.

A little ways across the shore, Sly and Allison had turned to watch and listen to the band play. They were still holding hands, but Sly had stopped trying to depict the scene at the beach to his lady love. Instead he just sat with her quietly, admiring the Dreams' music and the beauty of a sly plan come to completion. "You planned all this, didn't you?" Allison quietly asked him. "Not just to give Tiffani the perfect wedding away from the press, but to bring the band back together."

"Oh, yeah," Sly admitted, grinning from ear to ear. "You better believe it! Botta bing, botta boom, baby!"

Allison gently grasped his face in her hands and turned him to look at her. She beamed up at him. Her hands caressed him softly as she leaned up over him. "Botta boom," she whispered against his lips, and then she kissed him.

Everything was perfect, Sly thought as he kissed her back with not just major passion but also all the love that he'd always only truly felt for her alone. Allison was the only woman in all the world who he'd ever loved, and the only one he could, and Sly owed Tiffani a debt of thanks for bringing her back to him. He'd already paid that debt, however, as Tiffani would tell him later, by bringing the band back together and helping to fulfill all their dreams. All their lives were truly perfect and joyously completed now, after all these many years, and nothing would ever break them apart again!

**The End**


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